Don't own Gravitation, do own this fic. Slight language warning.
Ryuichi stopped the bow from gliding across the strings. His fingers paused their dance across the frets. Something was wrong. No, there wasn't too much resin on the bow, everything was in tune, what was it? He struck a note again. It came pure and smooth. Where was the wrong sound coming from?
Picking apart the sounds in the apartment, he found the traffic noise, the song of his violin, and some strange banging. Oh! That was it. A strange banging. He set the instrument back into its case and went out of his room to look for the noise. It wasn't his dryer; he didn't have one. It wasn't his dishwasher; didn't have one of those either.
The front door. As he entered his living room, making sure the noise wasn't from the television that he tended to leave on sometimes, he heard a frenzied pounding on the front door. Someone was out there calling his name.
There were two options here: one, this was some crazed fan that wanted to either take him hostage or just get an autograph, or two: something was seriously wrong with one of his friends or at least someone he knew.
He peered out the peephole. The only that that he could see was shiny pink hair. Smiling he opened the door. An elated feeling washed over him; Shuichi had decided to stay the night with him!
"Hey! Shu chan!" Ryuichi cried as the boy toppled in through the door. He was crying. "Huh, hey. What's wrong Shuichi?" He squatted down to look into glassy violet eyes that brimmed with tears. At the sight of concern in his idol's eyes, Shuichi really started crying.
"Hey," cooed Ryu, closing the door and helping Shuichi to the couch, "What is it?"
"Ryuichi, god, I'm so sorry. I didn't know about your childhood!" Shuichi bawled.
"Stop," muttered Ryuichi, slight sympathy in his voice for the emotional boy.
"No! It was so unfair of me. I was being a spoiled little brat just because you were better than me at singing. Just because you scared me a little. It's not right! It was such a dumb reason and I see that now. Now that I know what they did to you and-" anger began to taint the older singer's voice "Stop." Shuichi didn't hear, "how much music means to you. How it saved you. I know why you're so full of passion now. Because music saved you from years of abuse and-"
Ryuichi leaned in and kissed the rambling boy. Lilac eyes went wide with a combination of exhilaration and shock. He was being kissed by his god, his idol, his image of perfection.
Hands on Shuichi's shoulder, Ryu pulled back. A fierce look gave way to the carefree child like eyes that suited him much better. He giggled. "Yuki san was right. Giving you a kiss does shut you up." Shuichi couldn't say anything. He still felt the play of lips and tongue across his mouth. He wanted more
No.
Shuichi began to cry again. "Oh, no. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, it's just. I thought that would make you happy? Shit, what did I do? I'm sorry!" Ryuichi pulled the boy in for a hug. A new sob broke through Shuichi and he started bawling. "Oh no, I can't get anything right can I?" He didn't let the other signer out of his embrace though.
Instead he ran his hand up and down Shuichi's back, trying to soothe him, calm his breathing, anything! "I'm sorry. Why are you crying now? Because I'm better than you still. Damn it, that was a callous thing to say. I'm sorry. Hey, I know! I accept your apology- it was an apology right? Oh man, talk about digging your own grave.
"I know. Singing isn't about being tormented as a kid, it's about loving the music and I know that you love the music; all right, I'm on the right track here! You and your friends, you're awesome, just, everyone has to start somewhere. What do they say? Reach for the sky, the stars maybe. That's what you have to do. That's what you are doing. You're reaching for the stars Shuichi. I can see you getting them one day, too. Yeah, definitely, you are definitely going to get those stars!" Ryuichi whispered and rambled on, hand still moving soothingly over Shindou's back. As his words spilled out he felt Shuichi calm down.
A few seconds after Ryuichi stopped talking, Shuichi pulled out of the hug. He kept his hands on Ryuichi's shoulders, as if to stabilize his world, or maybe to make sure that the singer was real and wouldn't vanish. "You really think I'll get to the stars?" he sobbed. Ryuichi nodded. "Totally. In fact, you'll probably get further than the stars."
Smiling Shuichi kissed the singer. He didn't really know what he was doing, but it felt right. Like with Yuki. He froze, but just for a second. He was terrified that he was cheating on Yuki, but technically he and Yuki weren't together right now. He'd kicked him out and told him to "go away". So this wasn't bad. It was ok-- he could do this.
Not bothering to delve further into the matter, he stopped kissing Ryuichi; he was trying to say something and was probably being smothered. "So," Ryu took a deep breath of air, "I take it that you'll be sleeping over for the weekend?"
"If you're comfortable with this, it, tha--" He was being kissed again. "Damn," the thought half consciously as the golden god began to unbutton his shirt, "that really does shut me up!"
Three days had passed quickly with Ryuichi, and he knew that he couldn't risk staying four. Yuki would probably get nervous, or get with someone else. It was really an intricate and unusual romance between the two of them. One the third night, he had collected his things from Ryuichi's apartment, gave a cheerful goodbye, then left for work.
"You can come back any time you need you know!" Ryuichi called out as Shuichi ran down the hallway. Skidding to a stop, he had turned, nodded enthusiastically, and waved.
Things were getting better. He understood Ryuichi better now. On an emotional, physical, and personal level. He had never known that the singer was also a violinist and flutist. It made sense now, why he was so good. It was because he wasn't just another rock star put out there because the people were bored with the old ones.
"You aren't either you know. You really love the music, and so do Hiro and Suguru. All together, that 's what really comes through in your songs and if you don't lose sight of that well, hey, you might just be the next Nittle Grasper!" Ryu had said.
Shuichi kept that in mind as he practiced that night. He had to love the music. He had to look up to his heroes, just like Ryuichi. That was another thing he had learned. The amazing god Sakuma san had heroes too! It took away from his ethereal sugar coating and made him more human. It made his level more attainable.
"That was amazing tonight Shu!" Hiro exclaimed as they walked home, "What got into you? I've never seen you that pumped since your first night with Yuki." Shuichi blushed. Hiro raised an eyebrow, "What happened with Sakuma san anyway?" Mustering all his lying power Shuichi steadied his voice and said plainly, "Nothing really. I just think that it helped me find a new drive and narrowed down my goals. I'm reaching for the stars still, but just not all of them."
"Did he make you smart or something? You're so sage all of a sudden."
"Nah, I don't think I caught smart from him. Like K san said, he and I are the biggest dunces in rock 'n roll." They both laughed.
"So, was your weekend good?" Shuichi casually changed the subject. Hiro nodded, "It was nice; just he and I alone with no worries. Yeah." His best friend got a wistful look and smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "So," he said, snapping back to reality, "You gonna be okay going back tonight? You know my door's open if he doesn't want you back yet."
"I think it'll be fine," Shuichi said. He could see Yuki's house from here. "Thanks for walking me this far," he said, "but I have energy to burn, I'm going to run."
"Bye!" Hiro shouted, but Shuichi was already running. He craved to see Yuki again. He'd had a good time with Ryuichi, but he loved the two men in two ways: Ryuichi because he had passion, and Yuki because he was passion. As each stride brought Shuichi closer to the house, thoughts of a few nights with Sakuma faded into thoughts of an eternity with Eiri.
He opened the door quietly and slipped of his shoes. The front room was dark, but the TV was on. Sometimes Yuki left that on as background noise while he worked.
"Hey," his voice came out of the dark. Shuichi's heart leapt. He walked over to the couch and joined his lover. "Hi," he said meekly, not quite relaxing as he sat. He knew that it was time for the odd silence, so he just regarded the television. It was blaring images of pretty women and handsome men doing something that had nothing to do with what was being sold.
"So," Yuki said putting his arm around Shuichi's shoulders, instantly the young singer softened and got comfortable, resting his head on the writer's chest and pulling his legs up under him, "Who's better, me or Sakuma?" Shuichi twitched and tried to keep his cool. "How'd you know?" he sat up and looked at Yuki in the blue fluttering light of the TV. Very gravely he took his thumb and forefingers and made a little upside triangle on his forehead, "Gay lover beam." There was the barest touch of a playful gleam in his eyes.
After blinking for a few seconds, Shuichi burst out laughing at the absurdity of the thing that just came from the cold, stony, humorless man that he loved. He was even more astounded when Yuki let out a smile and a little chuckle too.
"I can't even believe you said that!" Shuichi said, a laugh still in his voice. Yuki picked up the remote and turned the TV off. "You and me both." He kissed his lover.
The taste on his lips said "I missed you" and the fond way he held the boy enforced the statement. "Come on," he said standing in the dark, offering Shuichi a hand, "You have a lot to do to redeem my superiority over Sakuma."
A/N: There you go. I hope I didn't botch it up to bad and make it cruddy romance. I tried really hard not to. I guess I'm pleased with the way it came out. Not one of my favorites (like Maintaining Splendor) but I suppose this isn't that horrible. Arigato gozaimashita to Darklore Wings for being my beta reader, I promise I'll be more organized about in next time (nyahaha!) My first try with a ShuichixRyuichi story. Tell me what you thought.
Also, I've fixed the second chapter or Rebel's Song. Rewrote the fight, so go check it out. It isn't so impractical.
Oh! It's based on the song You're a God, by Vertical Horizon. I didn't want to put the lyrics in because I felt like then I would have to really try and twine the two, so I just took the basic idea of the song and put it into my story. Here are the lyrics it you want to look. (I don't own this song either!)
I've got to be honest
I think you know
We're covered in lies and that's ok
There's somewhere beyond this I know
But I hope I can find the words to say
I've got to be honest
I think you know
We're covered in lies and that's ok
Never again no
No never again
Chorus
'cause you're a god
And I am not
And I just thought that you would know
You're a god
And I am not
And I just thought
I'd let you go
But I've been unable
To put you down
I'm still learning things I ought to know by now
It's under the table so
I need something more to show somehow
Never again no
No never again
Chorus
I've got to be honest
I think you know
We're covered in lies and that's ok
There's somewhere beyond this I know
But I hope I can find the words to say
Never again no
No never again
Chorus